Everhour adds retainer budgets, capacity planning, and time reports to Asana project work for recurring client commitments.
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$10k of $15k
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Alejandro Luna0:00:00Kai Nani0:00:00Kai Nani0:00:00Click!
Dave Jung0:00:00Alejandro Luna0:00:00Dave JungThe calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
Retainer tracking gives an owner, account lead, or finance reviewer a current view of work already committed to a client. Asana holds the project plan: tasks, assignees, due dates, and status. The retainer record connects that work to a period, a target budget, logged time, billable rules, and review steps so you can see whether the active commitment is still on track.
Use the workflow for recurring service agreements, support blocks, and long-running delivery work that renews on a set schedule. A clean record ties each Asana task to the right retainer period before reports, budget reviews, or invoices use the data. That keeps included work, non-billable work, and extra approved work from blending into one unreadable total.
A usable record starts with the client, the Asana project, the retainer period, and the target budget. Add the budget type, time or money, then define the total, rate basis, billable status, and the work categories that count against the agreement. Task estimates give managers a planned view; actual time entries show the work already consumed.
The daily workflow should leave a dated trail. People log time from the relevant Asana task, add a description when the task title alone will confuse a reviewer, and keep billable status accurate before approval. Rates then turn approved time into cost or billable amount, and reports can group the same work by project, task, person, or date.
Recurring retainers lose control when all work shares one total. Separate included client tasks from internal non-billable tasks and work that needs separate approval. The same Asana project can contain all three categories, but the retainer review needs billable status, approval status, and a description precise enough to explain why the time belongs in the period.
Recurring budgets need a reset rhythm that matches the agreement, such as daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Alert thresholds belong before the budget is exhausted, because the useful decision happens while there is time to adjust assignments, defer lower-priority tasks, or approve additional work. Late classification creates avoidable cleanup during invoice review.
A one-off retainer check is enough for one owner, one project, and one active period. Use it to confirm whether logged work is under the target, near the target, or already past the limit. A simple export also works when the client only needs a summary and no one needs approvals, locked records, or recurring budget history.
A managed workflow is the better fit once several people log time, managers approve timesheets, and the retainer feeds billing or payroll review. Everhour Resource Planning adds visual timelines, member and project views, weekly capacity, availability gaps, scheduled time off, and planned-versus-actual comparisons on top of the Asana work your team already runs.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
A retainer period needs a start date, an end date, a time or money target, and a clear set of included work. Use the same period in task tracking, approval review, budget reports, and invoice review. Mixed periods make the remaining budget look larger or smaller than the current client commitment.
The reviewer needs the task name, project, assignee, date, duration, billable status, approval status, and a short description for unclear work. Task estimates help compare planned work with actual time. Tags or categories add value only when they match the way the client expects the retainer to be summarized.
Use hours when the client commitment is a time allowance. Use money when the agreement is a fee cap or spending limit. Keep both views when rates turn time into cost or billable amount, because the hour balance and money balance can move differently across people, tasks, and rates.
Recurring targets stay clean when each time entry belongs to the correct active period and the budget reset schedule matches the agreement. A monthly retainer should not absorb work from the next period. Late entries need review before the invoice or client report is finalized, because they change actual time, cost, and remaining budget.
Budget noise starts when included client work, internal non-billable work, and separately approved work share the same billing treatment. Classify the work before approval review, then keep the description specific enough for a finance reviewer to understand the entry without reopening every task conversation.
Everhour Resource Planning shows retainer assignments on visual timelines with member and project views, weekly capacity, availability gaps, and scheduled time off. Managers can compare planned capacity with tracked time, spot overallocated people, and adjust Asana project work before a recurring client commitment overruns planned capacity.
Everhour Project Budgeting tracks hour-based or money-based retainer budgets as people log time against Asana tasks. Admins can set recurring budgets, configure email alert thresholds at any percentage, and review project summaries for total time, remaining budget, and billable versus non-billable hours.
Use Everhour Resource Planning to map Asana retainer work across visual timelines, weekly capacity, availability gaps, and scheduled time off, then compare planned workload with tracked time for realistic retainer staffing.
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